ONE in twenty of all adults in Scotland use e-cigarettes, a new study has found.
The Scottish Health Survey also found that 15% of the population had admitted to trying one.
The survey of 4700 adults and around 1700 children commissioned by the Scottish Government Health Directorates found current usage was highest for those aged 35-64.
Half of current cigarette smokers reported ever using e-cigarettes and some 14% of ex-regular smokers ever used an e-cigarette.
And the most common methods used to quit smoking were nicotine patches (36%) and e-cigarettes (32%).
Diarmid Campbell-Jack, research director at ScotCen Social Research commented: "These findings confirm that e-cigarettes are being used by a small, but not insignificant proportion of people in Scotland with one in every 20 saying that they currently use electric cigarettes.
"It’s important that the role of e-cigarettes isn’t over estimated, particularly until more is known about their long term consequences, however the more that we see a decline in usage of tobacco cigarettes the better for the future of health in Scotland."
"We have only seen very small proportions of adults in Scotland claiming that the Commonwealth Games had influenced, changed their attitudes to, or increased their participation in, sport.
"We know from elsewhere in the Scottish Health Survey that poor health, a lack of time, and lack of interest are the main barriers people mention when asked why they hadn’t taken part in sport recently – this suggests a wide range of issues need to continue to be considered when addressing this issue."
Maureen Watt, minister for public health, said: "Further research on the health impacts of e-cigarettes on both users and bystanders is needed, and we will continue to monitor evidence.
"However, current evidence suggests e-cigarettes are far less harmful than tobacco and if using them helps smokers quit entirely then that is to be welcomed."
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